Gonzalez and Valdes, who previously served as a cook at Park Cafe, sat down with Hart after he decided to close the cafe, Gonzalez said, and discussed the possibility of purchasing the business from him.

“He was very excited,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez and Valdes will lease the space from Hart, and the cafe will keep the same hours and maintain a cashless business model.

The cafe’s initial closing on July 6 was not a reaction to a string of five robberies between October and January, Hart said at the time. After each incident, Hart added extra security measures to his cafe.

Gonzalez is not worried about the crime the cafe experienced in the past, and is “just very excited to be here and be reopening,” he said.